The virtuosi : classical music's legendary performers from Paganini to Pavarotti

This book, though quite compelling and full of great anecdotes, falls short of his Great Composers, Great Pianists, and Great Conductors books. Nevertheless, no one has written about music and its artists of all types with more love and insight then Schonberg, and this book will have you searching

Show More

for archival recordings of Caruso, Hofmann, and lots of others. If only they existed for Liszt and Paganini! Quoting from eyewitnesses, Schonberg tries to give us a feeling for what made each performer, whether a singer or an instrumentalist special. He is diligent to seek out both strengths and weaknesses, though he has to look pretty hard for weaknesses in a few cases. Throughout, he writes in his standard compelling but opinionated mode. There is a great deal of regret that contemporary performers (i.e., 1985) lack the power, insight, or spontaneity of prior generations. He would definitely jump in a time machine to 1920 if he had the chance. Many of his readers will want to do the same.

Show Less